


If I Could Make You Happy

by SilverServerError



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Sibling solidarity, implied sex, open mic night, song prompt, taako has a feeling, that thong thong thong thong thong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 13:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13318995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverServerError/pseuds/SilverServerError
Summary: “Taako,” Lup grinned. “I professed my love in front of an entire world via what was possibly the most extra classical duet in existence. Getting embarrassed by some power ballad? Can’t relate.”He looked at her a touch confused. “Embarrassed? Why would I-?”Taako’s ears shifted back as his gaze whipped around to the little stage again. Brad and Kravitz weren’t just playing fantasy Adele, he finally realized. They were playing it, forhim.





	If I Could Make You Happy

**Author's Note:**

> I had a request to write something for the beautiful love ballad Make You feel my Love by Adele. My Taako-muse immediately had a panic attack and ran in the other direction. Everything turns out okay.

 

I know you haven't made your mind up yet

but I will never do you wrong. 

I've known it from the moment that we met. 

No doubt in my mind where you belong.

 

* * *

 

 

“Look at these fucking nerds.”

Lup sipped at the brightly colored straw of her cocktail, a curious brow raising.

“Fantasy Adele?” Taako continued, “at an open mic? Like, _be_ more… you know?”

She glanced between him and the stage where Brad was standing at the microphone crooning low and tender. Behind him, Kravitz sat at the cheap tavern piano with his head held high, posture fit for a royal concert hall. “Cheese ball?” She hazarded.

“Yes! Exactly that. It’s so cheese ball it hurts.” He turned to his sister with an exaggerated look of distaste, waiting for her to volley the next insult. She however, didn’t.

“Taako,” Lup grinned. “I professed my love in front of an entire world via what was possibly the most extra classical duet in existence. Getting embarrassed by some power ballad? Can’t relate.”

He looked at her a touch confused. “Embarrassed? Why would I-?”

Taako’s ears shifted back as his gaze whipped around to the little stage again. Brad and Kravitz weren’t just playing fantasy Adele, he finally realized. They were playing it, for _him_.

Brad caught his eye, smiling from the stage, cradling the microphone as his voice carried through the tavern. "I'd go hungry. I'd go black and blue." 

Immediately followed by the the entire rest of the tavern.

"And I'd go crawling down the avenue." 

He was used to the looks. Of course he was. He was Taako, from TV. The universe’s greatest transmutation wizard. Even before any of that, his whole… situation… meant there was always someone trying to figure him out. Them out.

"No there's nothing that I wouldn't do." 

He was used to the stares.

He wasn’t used to the presumptive little looks that the strangers at the bar were giving him, as if they knew anything about his fucking life, love or otherwise.

"To make you-" 

There was a collective gasp as Taako downed the last of his drink and blinked out of existence, leaving nothing but a slight aftertaste of spent arcane energy behind. Brad fumbled the lyrics for a line or two, but when Kravitz didn’t, he managed to find the thread and kept singing.

As the attention shifted back to their performers, Lup kept her cool as she calmly stood and gathered her jacket over an arm. Just as she turned to go, Barry returned, hands full of drinks for their suddenly empty table.

“Where did…? Is everything okay?”

Lup pressed a warm kiss to his cheek, just in front of his ear, leaving bright red lipstick behind. “Everything’s gucci, Babe. Just gotta take care of something real quick, okay?”

Barry glanced around the table, the room, starting to put clues together, distracted enough by the puzzle to not just ask there and then. “Need help?”

Lup traced a finger a few teasing inches from his collar to his sternum. “That’s sweet, stud, but all I need from you right now is to stick to the plan.”

Barry blushed a sudden pink across his nose and cheeks. “Oh! Are we still…?”

“You bet your shapely buns we are.”

With that she turned, exiting out the back door.

 

* * *

 

 

_We see an orcish bard, sitting at the bar, paying for the drink of his companion, a reaper whose fingers keep slipping nervously back to boniness, clinking against his glass._

“Are you sure? I’ve never… Even when I was trying to collect him, he’s never run away from me.”

Brad lifted an eyebrow, doing his best not to take it personally. “Never?”

“Shouldn’t we go after him?”

He sighed. “Kravitz, the whole world has heard your love story. I don’t doubt you know him in your own way. But now we’re in Brad territory.”

“Brad territory?”

“Mmmm…” he took a slow sip of his beer. “Accidentally embarrassing him, and then trying not to make it worse. It’s Brad’s time to shine.”

Kravitz looked at him almost in confusion. “Embarrassed? But he loves attention.”

Brad shrugged, holding up two empty hands. “Just, trust me. Let Taako come back on his own terms.”

 

* * *

 

 

_We see an elven woman, dressed in expensive, yet haphazard attire, lips bright red and pulling a jacket around her shoulders as she steps out of the back door of the tavern._

“Fifty… forty-nine...forty-eight…”

The whole crowd of smokers gave her a passing glance, but one in particular narrowed her eyes.

“Holy shit…” the stranger gasped lowly, frozen with her unlit cigarette halfway to her lips. “You’re Lup!”

Lup let her attention shift with a beaming smile, the count turning into a rhythmic little tapping on her left hand.

“Are you a fan?”

“Isn’t everyone?”

She laughed, smiling as a few more glances turned her way. “I’ve got some important business to take care of-”

Lup winked and with a snap, lit a small flame on her fingertip. The stranger’s eyes grew wide as she held it out in offering.

“-but I hope you have a horny evening if that’s your thing.”

The stranger stood there frozen until Lup grinned and nodded significantly to the cigarette. All at once she laughed nervously, then eagerly leaned forward to light it.

_Seven… Six… Five…_

Lup sauntered away, turning the corner just as Taako poofed back into the material plane. With a practiced ease and familiarity, she took her place, standing shoulder to shoulder with him against the plaster, just waiting. Listening. Letting her brother calm down.

“I’m fine,” he eventually said, a touch of a defensive bite to it.

“Oh I’m not here for you,” Lup said nonchalantly, examining her nails. “Barry and I are gonna smash on this rooftop in like five minutes.”

“Not funny,” he pouted, at last curling into her shoulder and being met with a comforting hug.

“Was it the song choice?”

“It was Brad’s stupid fucking tie.”

“I thought it looked cute.”

“On Angus maybe.”

“You think everything looks cute on Angus.”

“That’s because it does.”

Lup glanced at the far side of the alley, holding a fist to her lips and speaking solemnly, “That’s so fucking true.”

Taako groaned, turning around and swiping a hand over the wall, transmuting it into a long mirror, complete with low but even lighting.

She followed suit, starting to fix her already perfect lipstick as he began to set his hair back in order.

“I didn’t work this long and this hard on my brand for someone else to swoop in and steal my ending.”

Lup hesitated, taking in the unprompted confession, then continued with her work. “Ending?”

Taako grew frustrated with a frilly purple ribbon caught in the base of his braid, and under his touch it split in two, falling away easily. He ran it through his fingers, transmuting it to something sleek and black before wrapping that around his wrist for safe keeping as his hands went back, working the braid completely out so he could start again.

“Did you see their faces?” He glared at himself in the mirror.

“Kravitz and Brad?”

“No, everyone else.”

“Mmm,” she frowned softly.

“Gods damn fairytale ending.” His voice shifted to sarcastic, saccharine condescension. “Good thing he’s got these two to keep him in check. He sure seems calmer now that he’s taking orc dick on the reg.”

Taako’s new braid pulled uneven, too much tension in his grip.

The affect fell away, leaving his bare resentment behind. “Fucking… Taako’s a solo act.”

It took him long moments to realize how still Lup was standing.

“Ah… Hatchimatchi. Present company excluded, Lulu. You know that.”

She smiled delicately. “Ten years is a long time.”

“Yeah!” He almost barked, anger clearly simmering as he wrapped himself protectively around her side and met her eye fiercely in the mirror. The movement knocked his hat off and she caught it with a familiar reflex. “It’s a really long time. Too long!”

“Okay,” she smiled, a hand petting his temple. “Point taken.” She kissed the top of his head murmured a few utterly untranslatable sentiments of comfort in the clicks and squeaks they'd first learned from the mongoose family. Begrudgingly he answered in kind and eased away.

Once again he undid his hair, not finding it up to his standards. Then, at last and all at once, he realized he was struggling for nothing. He didn’t have to do it alone. He’d barely made eye contact before she put the hat on herself and was moving in to comb her fingers through, weaving his braid together.

“The problem isn’t that they’re all horny for it,” Taako said quietly after a while. “Like, gods know that’s good for business.”

He trailed off, gaze falling to the side. Lup kept weaving as she watched his expression carefully. “But you want it to be on your own terms?” she prompted after a while.

Taako’s whole outlook shifted, gaze searching her out as the gears turned. “Yeah! Like, when has letting someone else take a turn at the wheel _ever_ worked out for me?”

Lup help out her hand, and almost automatically, Taako gave her the black tie from his wrist. As she finished, she let the braid sit against his back, then squeezed his shoulders comfortingly.

He seemed a little lost in memory, and it made her heart ache to think there were probably even more instances than the ones she already knew about.

“This is different,” she said quietly. “They love you.”

His expression twisted like the first time she’d tricked him into eating grapefruit. “And I don’t care?” He frowned. “Like, does that make me an asshole? I still hate it?”

Lup wrapped her arms around him from behind and rested her chin on his shoulder. “I don’t think so.” Her words instantly seemed to calm him a degree or two. “It makes sense. Your brand is really fucking important when it’s all you’ve got.”

He groaned and covered his face in two hands. That was too much, even for Lup to see. For himself. True as it may be.

He took a long inhale, then let it ease out.

Lup hugged him tight throughout.

There was a noise from above and Taako glanced up, seeing nothing but stars and rooftop, even with his low-light vision. “Is that…?”

“Oh, I wasn’t kidding about me and Barry.”

“Grossaroni.” He huffed as he let his hands fall away. “I guess I should go back in?”

“Is that what you want to do?”

He scoffed. “What I _want_ to do is summon Garyl, ride straight home, and watch fantasy ANTM until I fall asleep next to an empty carton of salted caramel ice cream.”

Lup smiled at him. “Then do it.”

“What?”

She grinned, finally letting him go, turning to face him and fitting his hat back on top of his head. “Then do it, coward.”

 

* * *

 

 

_We see Death, standing under the shadow of a streetlight, pulling out a scythe to split the night-time air. A large hand on the shoulder of his cowl stops him._

“You may want to take the long way,” Brad said, a brow raised. “All things considered.”

“Are you sure?”

All he could do was shrug.

Kravitz sighed, becoming corporeal again, his boots hitting the cobblestones with a tiny click.

“You may be right.” Kravitz took a few steps, then turned back expectantly when Brad didn’t follow. “Aren’t you coming?”

Brad opened his mouth, then closed it again. He winced. “Do you really think he wants to see me right now?”

Kravitz wore his little epiphany plain on his face. “Oh.”

“Yes, so… It might be best if I-”

“At least to say goodnight?” Kravitz asked, tone just a touch too desperate to be called ‘hopeful’.

“You want me to walk all the way back to your house just to say goodnight?”

Kravitz frowned, looking a little helpless for someone holding such a huge weapon. “He _might_ want to see you.”

Brad eyed him, slowly realizing that Kravitz was asking for backup. He graciously nodded and moved to join him. He understood of course. Everyone needed HR to help with awkward conversations sometimes. Even the grim reaper apparently.

“Your playing was wonderful,” Brad said, trying to lighten the mood. “I’d love to play together more if you’re ever interested.”

Kravitz smiled. “And your singing isn’t bad either.”

He tried to wave it off. “Hardly. It’s not my specialty.”

“Maybe not,” Kravitz nodded thoughtfully, “but you meant it, and that’s what counts.”

Brad smiled back at him, “Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

 

_We see a large, quasi-real, horse-like creature with two horns, and a rainbow mane and tail walking down a dark alley. Beside him is the former most beautiful elf in the city._

_We see them argue, first about ice cream flavors, then about fantasy reality show contestants, and finally about PR strategies. After a few minutes and a brief escalation to yelling, the elf sighs, mounts his steed, and they gallop back towards the taverns downtown._

 

* * *

 

 

_We see two lovers, sweaty and adoring, wrapped up in each other and watching the stars as another melody drifts past them from the bar below._

“Did you hear that?” Lup asked, ear flicking to a better angle.

“Fantasy Bohemian Rhapsody?”

She shook her head, and sat up a little at Barry’s side.

Straining, she could just start to make out familiar voices.

“If that’s true, maybe we should wait.” She recognized the infinite pragmatism of Brad the orcan HR rep that still worked for the B.O.B.

“Well, considering elven… um… constitution, this has probably been enough time.” There was Kravitz.

Then, the familiar guffaw of her brother. “What constitution?”

“I… I think that was the point Kravitz was trying to make, Taako.”

Even Barry could hear them by now, and he sat up by her side, rubbing at her bare thigh. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with your constitution, Lup.”

She laughed, grinning wide and pulling him closer for another kiss. “Yeah, obviously, babe. You still came first.” Barry froze, and she smiled even wider. “Not a complaint, stud. You know how much I like watching things explode.”

Barry groaned in willing defeat, kissing her a little deeper before letting her pull away.

“Where’s my-?” she asked.

“I threw them by the chimney.”

Sure enough, she found her pants half hanging from it, and wiggled back into black denim before walking (steps in time with muffled power chords and a moment of air guitar for Barry) to the edge of the roof and peering over the side. Down on the street, Taako and Kravitz were somewhat adorably sharing Garly’s back as Brad stood beside.

“’Sup, three amigos?” She called down with a smile.

Taako kept a straight face but Garyl tried to hide a snicker behind a whinny.

“What are you doing here, bro?” She asked, raising her voice to be heard across the distance. “I thought you’d be a few episodes deep by now.”

“That’s dumb,” Taako shouted back. “You and me are gonna go show these fools the Thong Song instead.”

Lup grinned wide, already shimmying over the edge to land on a tiny balcony on the next floor. “You think this world has the karaoke track to that?”

Taako watched her searching the building for the next step down and coming up short.

“No, but I’m a fucking wizard so I think it’s gonna be chill. You can jump if you want, Lulu. I got you.”

She did with a smile and Taako carried her down with a practiced Feather Fall. As she joined them he turned up to catch Barry somewhat sheepishly coming to the edge of the roof. “You want a hand my man?” Taako offered.

Barry rubbed at his neck in slight embarrassment. “I uh… I think I’ll just use the fire escape. Don’t wait up, I’ll meet you guys down there.”

“Yeah, walk it off, homie,” Taako said under his breath, rolling his eyes.

 

* * *

 

  
_We see The Twins, perfectly in step as they shepard a captive audience. Lup with violin in hand. Taako spinning the tale of a bard worlds away from this one. We see the crowd, arms outstretched and reaching as two of The Seven take to the air, dancing on magic, too much personality for one small stage to contain._

 

* * *

 

 

_We see an elf, climbing out a bathroom window, an old habit from days of avoiding drunken mobs after intentionally instigating them. His smile is joyous. This is his favorite problem to have. There to help him back to earth is the one companion who has never let him down._

“You will eventually have to talk about this, you know.”

Taako adjusted his hat, expression falling to an accusing little glare pointed Garyl’s way as his feet met stone. “Bad timing, Starlite. I just got my groove back.”

“Maybe, but I only have a few minutes left and you know this shit only gets worse if you let it.”

Taako adjusted the hem of his skirt, pulling it straight and carrying himself with utmost dignity. “What do you know?”

“I know I have to gallop half way across town every time you want to avoid an awkward conversation.”

“Confirmation bias,” Taako murmured, but didn’t really put up a fight about it. Garyl nudged his shoulder and Taako let his hand pet up and down his neck. “I hate this.”

Garyl huffed. “Listen. You’ll be fine. They’re smart. Between the two of them you can probably just point them in the right direction then watch them figure it out.” Garyl nudged Taako’s hat out of place again. “All you gotta do is keep yourself from Blinking before they do.”

Taako took his hat in hand and pressed his forehead against Garyl’s soft, warm cheek. At last he let the gruff resistance fall with a defeated little whine. Garyl tucked his chin against him protectively.

“Where would I be without you, Garyl?” Taako tried to play it up for laughs, but it was a useless disguise considering.

“Up in some Keebler treehouse making basic ass cookies.”

Taako could feel the spell winding down, had known this moment was coming. But it was still always a little scary to pull away and watch Garyl fade out, even if they shared a reassuring smile as it happened.

Desperately he tried to think of some parting shot. “Yeah… well… they would still be delicious!”

“That’s not a punchline,” Garly grinned, just before returning to the now dormant arcane energy from which he came.

“Damn it!” He cursed, just frustrated enough to forget about being scared of being alone again.

Not that he was for long.

By the time Kravitz’s scythe appeared from nothing to let him and Brad into the alley, he’d only had time to practice the conversation a few times over in his head.

They both looked at him, still carrying a touch of concern, but mostly just happy to see him actually here as planned as opposed to disappearing for the second time that night.

“Hey fellas,” he smiled, a little grim. “How about if we take the long road home.”

“Are you sure?” Kravitz asked delicately. “It’s gotten late. You’re not too tired?”

Brad for his part just smiled.

“No, I’m sure. There’s kind of something I wanted to get off my chest.

____

_We see the universe’s greatest transmutation wizard. He walks hand in hand on each side between two people who love and adore him dearly. Though he has so much experience in other realms, it’s with an uncertainty of the result that he attempts to turn fear into bravery and omission into truth._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you, like me, haven't heard the Thong Song in 17 years, maybe give 'er a listen. If you, like me until five minutes ago, have never seen the video OH MY GOD!


End file.
